Thanks, JI, great reviews! I definitely plan on visiting Yamada and Kanesho.

Justin, when are you trying shimazu?

As always great writeups - sincerely appreciate the reviews!

Nice review! Thank You

Thanks for reading, guys! By the way, these aren't meant to be one-way reviews; I'd appreciate any feedback, points of disagreement, and anything else that comes to mind - always happy to get into a discussion on the specifics of each place! (At least I think it would be more stimulating than stuff like "How do I book Sugita" anyway...)

@Guest Uh, I'm not sure? It's on the top of my list of places to try but I need to win the Omakase war first (lol)

Thanks Justin! Nice review! You are making me change my mind about my reservation again! Hahaha.

I do agree that it is better than chasing for superstars like sugita,arai,amamoto and more in-line with the TTT tagline "Discover exclusive local hideouts".

Justin,

thank you for the detailed reviews. I've been thinking of writing a snapshot of my impressions after a few months in Japan, but compared to your detailed reviews, I think it's better I don't :) First of all, while I have had the extreme luck of dining at some top places - including Sugita, after 2 months of non-stop refreshing, Namba, Sakai, Kimura - I am nowhere near your ability to distinguish the subtleties of either shari seasoning or neta quality. I mean I can tell when I dislike something or I feel it is bland, but when it comes to comparing top places, I have a hard time distinguishing between the quality of tuna at Obana let's say, where it is supposed to come from a top source and Hashimoto - though clearly at Hashimoto the size is very large while at Obana it was on the thin side. I can also tell when some of the hikarimono - which I love - is more "watery" so to say. On the other hand, I have a lot of confidence when it comes to judging good wines - but that comes after years of experience. I feel that with sushi it might be the same and sadly I am not here to be able to repeat many of these places.

What inspired me to reply, briefly, is my liking of Tokiwa. I have been a few times - always the only non-Japanese there - and while I agree that on a few occasions it was fast paced, I also think that it is excellent and excellent value. I did not find the shari too tightly packed, though I will pay attention more next time, but I did find it on the al dente side. I think the ankimo is fabulous and so are the oysters. The neta, overall, seemed to me excellent - again, take this with a grain of salt as I am not yet at the level of being able to make some strong judgements here - slightly better than say what I had at Nishizaki or Tsubomi, not worse than Ryujiro, maybe on par with Hashimoto. I also liked Sushidokoro Yamato and find it an excellent value, maybe on par with Tokiwa.

My best experience so far was Sugita. I loved the food, but again, as I said I cannot judge with confidence the differences compared to other top places. But even though I was the only foreigner at the counter, I had a fantastic time and the atmosphere that the chef created and his warm, welcoming attitude towards not only the Japanese customers but also towards me, made it an unforgettable meal.

I had a lunch reservation at Sawada, which I missed because an accident on the train that I took into the city, and so I was an hour late. That was very disappointing as it is close to impossible to get. It was also disappointing that the chef showed me the door quickly without allowing me to explain what happened. I did not expect to be seated but still... I guess I will not try again because of this bitter taste. Luckily I was lucky enough to get the Sugita reservation a week later which, as I mentioned above, was fantastic.

I have found Sakai in Fukuoka to be outstanding - I would describe it as elegant, I can't say why - in terms of food quality. I would love to try it again, but I have to prioritize so next time it will be Tenzushi and I'll see what else.

I liked Kimura, and again good atmosphere, but I would need to go again to form a clearer impression. I also like Hashimoto a lot, I had fun the few times I have been. I find it a mellow experience, not meaning mellow in a bad way - more smooth, comforting. I somehow felt a little underwhelmed at Namba - I think there were interesting, less common, fish, but not necessarily better tasting. Ankimo though was phenomenal!

Tokiwa and Sushidokoro Yamato I keep in a special category as both high quality and good value. And after that, as I mentioned, Nishizaki, Tsubomi.

My only negative experience was Kizaki. I did not find the food inspiring in any single way - the only exception being that for the first time ever I had whale - and I found it significantly overpriced. The lunch omakase at 27.5 k with just a few bland-ish otsumami included, 2 drinks, and an extra piece of nigiri came in at 36.5k.



Finally, I agree with you fully that there is room for creativity and innovation in nigiri.

Thanks for the extremely detailed reviews, Justin! I can second everything you said about Tokiwazushi, down to my reaction when the ice cream came out, lol. It didn't help that the ice cream was slightly icy instead of being smoothly churned. I thought the lunch nigiri course was really good CP though! (at least before the price increases)

Your description of Sushidokoro Yamada has put it on my hitlist. Well, all except the shiitake nigiri, haha. Between Kyoudaizushi's shiitake and Mantenzushi's enoki, I can't say I've had a mushroom nigiri that was mind-blowing. But maybe this one would change my mind :). That said, if you're into uncommon neta and an aged slant, you might want to try Sushi Akira. Was there a few months back and was served some kind of rockfish, orange-spotted grouper, and the aforementioned king salmon. Unlike Yamada, the chef does indulge in his expensive ingredients too, but it was nice that he chose to highlight some lesser known fish.

Also, I empathize with @guest's experience of Kizaki. Glad I'm not the only one who found the upcharge (vs. the nigiri-only lunch) for the few insipid otsumami completely outrageous.

Same poster as before: do you guys really feel that Tokiwa after the price increase is not a good value anymore? I still think at 24.2k tax included, and no major surprises on drinks, represents a good deal. Everybody seems to have raised their prices so I do not blame them.

But I do appreciate your insights. I am actually going tomorrow and have another reservation in May. So tomorrow I will pay very close attention to your notes.

And indeed thank you for the Yamada recommendation. I have not seen any seats in the last month and a half on Pocket Concierge so I am not sure what the best way to book is, but I registered for the wait list.

Do you guys have other recommendations?

Just as a side conversation: I found the kaiseki places in Tokyo very underwhelming. I tried Shinohara, Guchokuni and Myojaku. Shinohara was reasonably nice, but at that price... Guchokuni was probably my favorite but again, I found the price to be high for what it was. And Myojaku was super underwhelming at the price. On the other hand, I just had the 14k lunch at Kiyama in Kyoto, which I think was probably on of my top 3 dining experiences in Japan. Both in terms of quality and value.

@guest Sorry to hear about your Kaiseki experiences in Tokyo and have to agree I do find them underwhelming compared to other cities. Shinohara's food is nowhere near a Tabelog gold level and there are plenty of restaurants with better food in Tokyo and around Japan. The Hassun was beautiful to look at but flavours and cooking execution just weren't there. In Tokyo, the few places that I like for Kaiseki/Kappo are Myoujyaku, Kagurazaka Ishikawa and Suetomi. Myoujyaku is a shop that I visit every time in Tokyo. I like how he makes a statement with his first dish by always cooking a single in season ingredient with just salt and water. Highlights the original flavours of the ingredients and most of the dishes tasted clean, delicate and well balanced. What was wrong with your meal and why did you find it underwhelming?

I went to Kizaki last trip, I thought overall the meal was good and its an easy place to get a booking especially last minute. I understand what you guys mean that the 27.5k omakase wasnt that good value vs the 16.5k nigiri lunch. But if you think about it, I think the nigiri course is cheap especially with the recent inflation of Tokyo sushiya's. Rather than the 27.5k Omakase course being expensive. I would still recommend the Nigiri lunch or dinner course to friends who dont book their trips months in advance. Just my perspective

@Guest Thank you for sharing your summaries - I'm sure many people will find your post useful! Re: Tokiwa, I can't comment on the tsumami as I didn't try them, but yes, ~25k is not bad value in current times. But then, as you may have guessed from my review, the nigiri didn't leave a lasting impression on me, and I don't feel the need to return until something radically changes about the place (which is unlikely, lol) It is by no means a "bad" place at all in case the 7.5/10 score might mislead people - I consider 7.5 to be above average / pretty good!

@JJ: Yamada-san's shiitake was, if nothing else, interesting. I believe he uses it as a "primer" for the next nigiri rather than serve it as a spectacular piece of its own; there are a couple of videos online in which he says the glutamine from shiitake synergizes well with the piece he wants to serve next (which is usually katsuo but in my case was bincho maguro). Maybe that's why the bincho maguro did taste very good, lol. Sushi Akira does look interesting too, but I skipped it as I had heard the nigiri there still needs some work. Looks like it's getting ever more popular, though, so those interested to visit it should do so while they still can...

P.S. Unfortunately I can't add much to the kaiseki conversation since I know next to nothing!!

I am sorry for the late reply. I am the guest who likes Tokiwa.

I went last week and I continue to like it. I did not feel the shari being too salty or too packed, but as I mentioned it is indeed on the firmer side so maybe that gives the sensation of it being packed but I don't know. This thing is hard to learn for me! Otsumami like usual were great, and the hirame was delicious although usually I find it chewy and even some top places occasionally serve less delicious hirame than I had at Tokiwa. We had 10 otsumami and 13 nigiri, and the highlights were, again, the oysters, katsuo, maguro maki and firefly squid. I don't like the herring roe in general so I did not like it here either. I appreciate that we were served Hagashi instead of otoro, which I understand is rare and hard to prepare. We enjoyed it. And I am going again next week, one last time before I depart in a few weeks.

On Kizaki, in response to @Wanderlusting, I can see your point, but as I mentioned, the bland otsumami, and especially the price going from 27.5k to 36 k for the 2 beers and an extra piece of nigiri is what sealed the deal. I cannot get over it and feel it was a complete ripoff. The 16.6k nigiri lunch might be a good deal, but extra 11k fro a few bland otsumami makes the 27.5k lunch an especialy poor proposition, and of course the surcharge above. I found the nigiri at Ryujiro much much better, and especially for 16.5k. And when I compare the 36k at Kizaki with the 36k that I typically paid at Hashimoto the 3 times that I have been, there is no comparison, with Hashimoto being so far ahead both in terms of quality of food, and value - 36k includes 3-4 beers and 1-2 sake and an extra piece or two. So I deeply regret going there and wasting my money.

I have a reservation for tonight at Shimadzu (Shimazu, don't know the exact spelling) and I am very much looking forward to it, as I just learned about it from the forum, and I thought I won't be able to make it in my remaining few weeks, but a few days ago I managed to get a seat - likely a cancelation. Super excited.

I would love to also try Yamada, but nothing is available on PC and my waiting list requests have passed.

I light of the experience at Kizaki, I am wondering if I should spend 200 bucks at Sushi Yu, especially since I still have many other places that I will be visiting (most of them repeats, such as Yamato, Hashimoto, Tokiwa, Tsubomi, but a few new ones such as Kikuzushi and Tenzushi) or should I spend the money on some nice ceramics or some bottles of Masuizumi.

@Daniel regarding Kaiseki, I think I do not have the taste developed for the minimalist approach there - what you called understated. That is exactly how I felt, that Myoujyaku was understated, it lacked pop, whereas Kyama was fantastic, every single dish having something interesting. I mean I can understand the appeal of that simple, minimalist approach, and I guess it takes time to develop a taste for it and appreciate it. But still, at $300 or so, I expected much more.

Again as a side note, I had the chance to go to Niitome as well, while I liked it, again, I expected a bit more. Yes, the pieces were tasty and like at Myoujyaku, the essence of the taste of that particular vegetable, but I felt it lacked some pop. I understand that what I said might be anathema, but that was my impression and tastes are tastes.

I am just thinking about my experience several years ago at places such as Azurmendi or Arzak and I am thinking that for a similar price (used to be under 200 euro, not it is 300) Azurmendi was a phenomenal experience. Anyway these are just some impressions from someone whose tastes are not yet attuned to some of the subtleties of the Japanese cuisine that I experienced in the past few months.

Oh and on the ice cream at Tokiwa, te yoghurt one was a bit crystally but the tea one was very smooth. I am not sure which one you had.

@guest. Thanks for expanding your comments. I agree with a lot of what you say. I went once to Kizaki for nigiri lunch and thought it was excellent but you're not the first person to say the full course is not worth the money. Agree Ryujiro is much better and with the price increases Kizaki is almost the same, though obviously Ryujiro is a much more difficult reservation. I wish I'd gone to Kizaki more when it was cheaper.

Niitome was underwhelming for me too! It's fault free tempura but I was expecting something next level and it wasn't there.

Lunch at Kiyama is indeed a fantastic deal and there's nothing comparable in Tokyo.

I loved my first meal at Myoujaku. There were still 10s in my second but there were enough things not to my liking that I don't want to pay 40K again.

On your final point there's nowhere in Tokyo that has the same level of experience as the 3* places in the Basque Country. There's relatively little experimentation and innovation in restaurants in Japan. On the other hand I feel there's more consistency with the food here and the focus is more on refinement and appreciation of quality of ingredients, which are often second to none.

@TokyoGourmet

It’s me again. I could not have put it better than you did in your last paragraph. You simply perfectly expressed my impression and opinion. There is room for innovation but perhaps things are hard to change.

As I mentioned, today I had a reservation at Shimazu and my only regret is not paying more attention to the forum and trying to get a reservation earlier. I was still super lucky that just a few days ago I got a seat on Omakase. I cannot tell you how positively I feel about the place - it was my most consistently delicious sushi experience, not only in its price category but I general. Everything I feel was absolutely outstanding including the otsumami and at 35k or so I think it is a steal. Maybe Kasugo I had better and ankimo at Namba was the best but still. I think it might be my new favorite and I hope I can get another chance before I leave. Iwashi was incredibly smooth, the iwashi roll was better than at another outstanding place, great katsuo, fantastic chawanmushi. And the Aji nigiri was simply perfection - incredible texture and temperature! Murasaki uni was huge and had a great balance of sweetness and brinyness (or whatever the right word is). The tuna sequence was also outstanding. And I think that the Shari was also perfectly balanced with both sourness and a bit of sweetness. Just to calibrate expectations, the Shari is on the small side and maybe the tuna thinner than in other places but it works perfect with the size of the shari.

Now I am back to hunting for another seat :)

And of course I forgot something - Taysho (is this the right word?) was warm and jovial and we even managed to crack a few jokes. He made me feel welcome and knew all the fish names in English and he speaks/understands enough to communicate. Certainly the place is not one of those super serious ones - I think I read somewhere a good expression, temple - where people eat in silence and ooh and aah over each piece. Seriously done, with nice choreography, for lack of a better word, and peppered with plenty of humor. Loved it.